Hochul Meets With de Blasio, Tours NYC

Incoming New York Governor Kathy Hochul met with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday, with the two vowing to work together on combating the coronavirus.

Hochul tweeted, “I had a productive conversation with [the Mayor] today discussing issues that are important to New Yorkers, from fighting Delta to getting our kids back to school safely to keeping our communities safe. Looking forward to working with the Mayor on these issues.”

At his press conference on Wednesday, de Blasio said he looked forward to meeting with Hochul. “Very positive meeting, very productive meeting. We know each other a long time. Again, we haven’t worked super closely together, but there’s a good relationship going back for years now,” he said. “We talked especially about fighting the Delta variant and about building a recovery. That was the number one topic. And you know, a good, open dialogue on the different approaches and what makes sense to do.”

Hochul also met with Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who ran against and lost to her in the 2018 election for Lieutenant Governor. Williams has not ruled out running for governor in 2022.

“Kathy Hochul has said herself that she’s been stronger upstate than downstate,” Democratic strategist Basil Smikle told Fox News 5. “So it makes sense to meet with leaders downstate to try to strengthen that base since Democratic primaries for governor are generally won in New York City and in our suburbs.”

Hochul will be working with de Blasio for only a few months; the mayoral election is on November 2, and Democratic nominee Eric Adams is the expected to win by a comfortable margin. Though Cuomo and de Blasio had a frosty relationship, Hochul has promised to work alongside de Blasio and whoever wins the upcoming election.

“I want to roll up my sleeves and sit down with the mayor of New York, the current and the incoming mayors, and say let’s solve this together,” she said, according to Politico.

Hochul added, “I’m so excited do work with Eric Adams. I’ve had a chance to work with him while he’s been Brooklyn borough president, he was very supportive of me in my past two statewide elections and I appreciate that.

Adams has praised Hochul as “a professional” with a “steady hand.”

On Wednesday, she toured public schools in Queens and announced Marissa Shorenstein would be the director of the Executive Transition Team. Hochul is expected to be sworn in on August 24.

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smarcus@hamodia.com